Kazuo Ohno

Kazuo Ohno,
(born Oct. 27, 1906, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan—died June 1, 2010, Yokohama, Japan), Japanese performance artist who was a leading exponent of buto (Butoh), a Japanese dance-theatre movement in which formal technique is eschewed and primal sexuality and the grotesque are explored. Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata are credited with having founded this “dance of darkness” in the 1950s. The two collaborated (1959–66) in works that were inspired by the writings of French playwright Jean Genet, French poet comte de Lautréamont, and Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima. Performing usually in the guise of a woman, Ohno interpreted his grisly experiences during his nine ... (100 of 207 words)